FROM THIS EPISODE

The City of Los Angeles faces a $250 million deficit. Tree trimming, sidewalk repair and other services have been cut back or eliminated. Now Mayor Garcetti wants to get rid of the business tax at a cost of $400 million in existing revenue. Will that be made up when fewer companies leave town and more come as the Mayor says? How long will that take, and what happens to services in the meantime? Also, LA is about to complete the process of fitting out street lamps with LED bulbs to save energy and money. Night scene in TV shows and movies will never look the same as they have in the days of sodium and mercury vapor.

Later on To the Point, President Obama won't be on the scene for the Winter Olympics, but there's a lot at stake in Sochi for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The opening ceremonies are tomorrow, but qualifying for some events began today. We get updates on those and on the many controversies surrounding the most expensive Olympics in history.

Banner image: Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles as seen from City Hall. Photo: Geographer

For decades, the City of Angeles has been called "unfriendly to business," in part because it taxes business at a higher rate than all the 87 other cities in LA County. Mayor Garcetti has long been a proponent of eliminating the business tax completely, and he's about to offer a phase-out plan.

Last year, Los Angeles completed Phase One of a project to change its light bulbs. Some 140,000 streetlights now have LED bulbs instead of sodium or mercury vapor. Phase Two will begin in July, with new bulbs for 70,000 decorative street lamps. It's a development that will change the look of LA in important ways. We hear about the process and the different look Los Angeles will have with new lighting